The transition to a biobased economy necessitates utilizing renewable resources as a sustainable alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Bioconversion is a way to produce many green chemicals from renewables, e.g., biopolymers like PHAs. However, fermentation and bioconversion processes mostly rely on expensive, and highly refined pure substrates. The utilization of crude fractions from biorefineries, especially herbaceous lignocellulosic feedstocks, could significantly reduce costs. This presentation shows the microbial production of PHA from such a crude stream by a wild-type thermophilic bacterium Schlegelella thermodepolymerans [1]. Specifically, it uses crude xylose-rich fractions derived from a newly developed biorefinery process for grassy biomasses (the ALACEN process). This new stepwise mild flow-through biorefinery approach for grassy lignocellulosic biomass allows the production of various fractions: a fraction containing esterified aromatics, a monomeric xylose-rich stream, a glucose fraction, and a native-like lignin residue [2]. The crude xylose-rich fraction was free of fermentation-inhibiting compounds meaning that the bacterium S.thermodepolymerans could effectively use it for the production of one type of PHA, polyhydroxybutyrate. Almost 90% of the xylose in the refined wheat straw fraction was metabolized with simultaneous production of PHA, matching 90% of the PHA production per gram of sugars, comparable to PHA yields from commercially available xylose. In addition to xylose, S. thermodepolymerans converted oligosaccharides with a xylose backbone (xylans) into fermentable xylose, and subsequently utilized the xylose as a source for PHA production. Since the xylose-rich hydrolysates from the ALACEN process also contain some oligomeric xylose and minor hemicellulose-derived sugars, optimal valorization of the C5-fractions derived from the refinery process can be obtained using S. thermodepolymerans. This opens the way for further exploration of PHA production from C5-fractions out of a variety of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomasses using the ALACEN process combined with S. thermodepolymerans. Overall, the innovative utilization of renewable resources in fermentation technology, as shown herein, makes a solid contribution to the transition to a biobased economy.[1] W. Zhou, D.I. Colpa, H. Permentier, R.A. Offringa, L. Rohrbach, G.J.W. Euverink, J. Krooneman. Insight into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from xylose and extracellular PHA degradation by a thermophilic Schlegelella thermodepolymerans. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 194 (2023) 107006, ISSN 0921-3449, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107006. [2] S. Bertran-Llorens, W.Zhou. M.A.Palazzo, D.I.Colpa, G.J.W.Euverink, J.Krooneman, P.J.Deuss. ALACEN: a holistic herbaceous biomass fractionation process attaining a xylose-rich stream for direct microbial conversion to bioplastics. Submitted 2023.
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The dairy sector in the Netherlands aims for a 30% increase in efficiency and 30% carbon dioxide emission reduction compared to the reference year of 1990, and a 20% share of renewable energy, all by the year 2020. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) can play a substantial role in achieving these aims. However, results from this study indicate that the AD system is not fully optimized in combination with farming practices regarding sustainability. Therefore, the Industrial Symbiosis concept, combined with energy and environmental system analysis, Life Cycle Analysis and modeling is used to optimize a farm-scale AD system on four indicators of sustainability (i.e., energy efficiency, carbon footprint, environmental impacts and costs). Implemented in a theoretical case, where a cooperation of farms share biomass feedstocks, a symbiotic AD system can significantly lower external energy consumption by 72 to 92%, carbon footprint by 71 to 91%, environmental impacts by 68 to 89%, and yearly expenditures by 56 to 66% compared to a reference cooperation. The largest reductions and economic gains can be achieved when a surplus of manure is available for upgrading into organic fertilizer to replace fossil fertilizers. Applying the aforementioned symbiotic concept to the Dutch farming sector can help to achieve the stated goals indicated by the Dutch agricultural sector for the year 2020.
The biomass demand for the use as both renewable energy source and raw material for the biotechnology industry is increasing. Simultaneously, the supply of biomass is requested to become more costcompetitive. Innovative solutions for cost-effective biomass production should also avoid indirect land use changes and direct negative environmental effects. The main aim of this study is to identify the most promising innovative lignocellulosic cropping systems regarding environmental sustainability as well as social acceptance for different cost scenarios and different regions in Europe. To gather innovative cropping knowledge from around Europe ADVANCEFUEL organized a workshop. Participating Horizon 2020 projects presenting innovative approaches onlignocellulosic cropping systems included: FORBIO, MAGIC, BECOOL, LIBBIO, GRACE, and SEEMLA. Data was collected from field studies of the participating projects prior to the workshop and later presented in an aggregated way as a basis for discussions. This approach incorporates the knowledge gained in over 60 study cases conducted in 12 different countries. Under these study cases, 16 different lignocellulosic crops were covered. This field based knowledge can be used to validate spatial assessments of sustainable biomass production potentials in Europe.
By transitioning from a fossil-based economy to a circular and bio-based economy, the industry has an opportunity to reduce its overall CO2 emission. Necessary conditions for effective and significant reductions of CO2-emissions are that effective processing routes are developed that make the available carbon in the renewable sources accessible at an acceptable price and in process chains that produce valuable products that may replace fossil based products. To match the growing industrial carbon demand with sufficient carbon sources, all available circular, and renewable feedstock sources must be considered. A major challenge for greening chemistry is to find suitable sustainable carbon that is not fossil (petroleum, natural gas, coal), but also does not compete with the food or feed demand. Therefore, in this proposal, we omit the use of first generation substrates such as sugary crops (sugar beets), or starch-containing biomasses (maize, cereals).
In the context of global efforts to increase sustainability and reduce CO2 emissions in the chemical industry, bio-based materials are receiving increasing attention as renewable alternatives to petroleum-based polymers. In this regard, Visolis has developed a bio-based platform centered around the efficient conversion of plant-derived sugars to mevalonolactone (MVL) via microbial fermentation. Subsequently, MVL is thermochemically converted to bio-monomers such as isoprene and 3-methyl-1,5-pentane diol, which are ultimately used in the production of polymer materials. Currently, the Visolis process has been optimized to use high-purity, industrial dextrose (glucose) as feedstock for their fermentation process. Dutch Sustainable Development (DSD) has developed a direct processing technology in which sugar beets are used for fermentation without first having to go through sugar extraction and refinery. The main exponent of this technology is their patented Betaprocess, in which the sugar beet is essentially exposed to heat and a mild vacuum explosion, opening the cell walls and releasing the sugar content. This Betaprocess has the potential to speed up current fermentation processes and lower feedstock-related costs. The aim of this project is to combine aforementioned technologies to enable the production of mevalonolactone using sucrose, present in crude sugar beet bray after Betaprocessing. To this end, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Zuyd) intends to collaborate with Visolis and DSD. Zuyd will utilize its experience in both (bio)chemical engineering and fermentation to optimize the process from sugar beet (pre)treatment to product recovery. Visolis and DSD will contribute their expertise in microbial engineering and low-cost sugar production. During this collaboration, students and professionals will work together at the Chemelot Innovation and Learning Labs (CHILL) on the Brightlands campus in Geleen. This collaboration will not only stimulate innovation and sustainable chemistry, but also provides starting professionals with valuable experience in this expanding field.
Verduurzaming van de chemische en landbouwsector is essentieel om de klimaat- en circulaire doelstellingen te halen. Eén van de mogelijkheden om de chemische sector te vergroenen is om hernieuwbare grondstoffen als feedstock voor productie te gebruiken. Met name laagwaardige reststromen uit de agrarische sector komen hiervoor in aanmerking. In dit project wordt beoogd om koeienurine, die gescheiden is opgevangen van de ontlasting, te valoriseren richting hoogwaardige componenten voor (fijn)chemie en meststoffen. De focus zal in eerste instantie liggen op de isolatie van hippuurzuur en hieruit te synthetiseren benzoëzuur en glycine en de verwaarding van de resterende fractie richting natuurlijke meststoffen (kalium en ureum) voor de akker/tuinbouw. Het verkregen groene benzoëzuur is een goed alternatief voor het huidige uit de petrochemie gesynthetiseerde zuur en kan bijvoorbeeld als natuurlijk conserveringsmiddel in mengvoeders worden gebruikt. In een latere fase zullen ook overige waardevolle componenten (allantoine, creatinine, creatine, etc.) uit urine van koeien worden geïsoleerd en gevaloriseerd. Een succesvol project draagt bij aan het verbeteren van de business case van veetelers en maakt de scheiding van urine en ontlasting in de stallen aantrekkelijker. Additionele revenuen die uit de bioraffinage van urine worden verkregen kunnen gebruikt worden om de gedane investeringen in het “koeientoilet” terug te verdienen. De scheiding van urine en ontlasting levert een significante reductie in ammoniak-emissies op en draagt hiermee bij aan het oplossen van het “stikstofprobleem”. Reductie van CO2 wordt o.a. bewerkstelligd door verminderd gebruik van kunstmest en vervanging van uit de petrochemie afkomstige chemicaliën (benzoëzuur) door synthese uit natuurlijke (hernieuwbare) grondstoffen.
